If Dragons Then Royalty

[lea_hazel]

Royalty and nobility are one of the most common conceits of epic fantasy. Almost every fantasy novel takes place in a world comprised of a series of kingdoms, or similarly structured alternatives. Epic plotlines usually follow the royalty or at least high nobility of one or more of these kingdoms. This applies doubly when the protagonist is a commoner; gaining access to the higher echelons of society is part of their reward.

When I tried to think about fantasy novels (excluding contemporary, and even those have their vampire kings and fairy queens) that defy this convention, I thought first of A Wizard of Earthsea. I may be misremembering, since I read it in translation years ago, but I don't recall Ged or any of the other major characters being noble. A few other books came to mind, where characters sometimes deal with nobility but don't wind up discovered as the long-lost heirs to something, or receiving a noble title, or anything.

I can't think of many fantasies that don't take place in a royal hierarchy, though. For some people, the crowns and swords and other medieval trappings are a major part of fantasy's charm, but it's still a pretty diverse genre. Do people think non-monarchic systems are too much of a divergence for fantasy, or does it just not occur to them that there are other options? Like the title says: If dragons -- then monarchy?

Comments

[holyschist]

I was actually thinking about this recently! I can think of a fair number of fantasy novels that aren't about nobles, even ones where nobles don't play a major role. But I can't really think of any non-urban fantasy set in a democracy, republic, or even solidly in a nomadic culture* or other smaller political organization than a kingdom or city-state. Especially not medievaloid

I think it's partly that so much fantasy is medievaloid, and most people are most familiar with Western Europe, and not with other political organizations of the past.

*This is actually one of my biggest issues with Shannon Hale's Book of a Thousand Days--it's strongly inspired by the Mongol Empire, but its political structure and social hierarchy are very European, and in some ways antithetical to medieval Mongol social values. I feel like she really missed a chance to do something less monarchical than your average fantasy novel.

God, I am longing for political intrigue fantasy in a senate or church now (although a church is often as much a hierarchy as a monarchy)!

[lassarina]

Just to be difficult (and because I like devil's advocacy) I should also point out that, purely from a logical standpoint--going on adventures takes money. Little things like food, inns, means of travel, warm enough clothes. Peasants usually lack these things. (Middle-class kids might get away with it, but that assumes your structure is sufficiently advanced to have created a middle class.) Also, noble kids usually get a LOT more choice in what they're going to do with their lives than peasant kids do--your average sixteen-year-old non-noble boy has been working the family farm/tailor shop/etc. since he was four.

The kind of upward mobility we have in our lives now (well...the illusion of upward mobility masking the filthy underbelly of classist privilege, which is a discussion for another time) is simply not possible in a subsistence society, which is functionally what most fantasy-noble-echelon stories are about. Since the society isn't industrialized, food production (and every other damn thing) takes forever and lots of hands. Manufacturing isn't an option. The machines we have now can weave a mile of fabric or more in a day; in medieval Europe or the Renaissance, you'd be lucky to get a couple of yards. Food preparation was entirely more involved. Shoes took weeks, not hours, to make. Etc. etc.

Which is a long winded way of saying, I suspect most political/epic fantasy is about Charming Nobility not only because it's traditional, but because as soon as you start analyzing the social forces of any preindustrial society, you realize that the nobility is the only group that consistently has the time to give a rat's tail about what's going on beyond their noses.

[holyschist]

I actually don't read epic fantasy at all, and everything else is still mostly about nobility.

I would argue there are plenty of other classes of people who could and sometimes do have adventures in a feudal society: scholars, scientists, monks, soldiers, merchants, spies, senators, thieves, and pilgrims, for example--and that's leaving aside entirely that a physical quest isn't necessary for fantasy.

There are also pre-industrial political models that are not monarchies per se: Greece, Rome, any number of nomadic societies (e.g. Alans, Scythians, Sarmatians, Mongols, Turkic groups, etc. ad infinitum) which could be used as a basis for fantasy but aren't. I'm not saying these groups are classless--obviously they're not--but they're not monarchies.

And somehow, despite the huge amount of work involved in nomadic life, the Mongols still found time to conquer the largest contiguous land empire ever--by not devoting much time to developing many technologies common in sedentary civilizations or a written language of their own.

As far as the difference in time--I'm well aware of it, since I am a historical reenactor and have either done or know people who've done those tasks with preindustrial tools (many types of shoes can be made much more quickly than weeks). It's true everything took longer. It's also true people had a lot less stuff then. The fact that handspun, handwoven fabric (and the fleece preparation and spinning take orders or magnitude longer than the weaving) is slower to produce is partially counterbalanced by most people having a few sets of clothes, not an entire closet full of them. It's not an insurmountable obstacle to fantasy, especially if the work of daily life is integrated into the story. Frankly, I'd find that a lot more interesting than most nobility-focused fantasy (which tends to overlook how much work being a noble was, too).

I think you're conflating the bourgeoisie and the nobility somewhat as well. Especially by the Renaissance, the bourgeoisie could be as wealthy as the lower nobility--or wealthier--but they still did not occupy the same social class.

[holyschist]

Er, ETA: I missed that the original post was specifically about epic fantasy, but I still think a lot of this applies. I see no reason you couldn't have an Ancient-Greece-based epic fantasy, and Genghis Khan's story is certainly epic--something like that could easily be put into a fantasy framework.

the Roman model in secondary-world fantasy

[morineko]

I know K.J. Parker's used it, but I'm not sure if Parker's work counts as "epic"--it's more political and none of the books I've read so far have any magic whatsoever, they're just secondary-world.

Re: the Roman model in secondary-world fantasy

[holyschist]

I'm not sure what the solid definition of "epic" is.

Jim Butcher's Codex Alera is Rome-based, but I think more Imperial Rome; I dunno how "epic" they are, but epic enough that I haven't tried reading them.

(Okay, I'm probably being unfair. I'm sure there's epic fantasy I've read and enjoyed. But the blurbs rarely grab me.)

[lea_hazel]

Frankly, I'd find that a lot more interesting than most nobility-focused fantasy (which tends to overlook how much work being a noble was, too).

Amen to that! If the noble sons are running around chasing treasure and bad guys all the time, then who governs their lands? Who collects and distributes taxes? Who protects against highwaymen? Who mediates disputes? Who maintains the roads?

[holyschist]

This kind of ties into my question recently on another comm about Robin Hood novels where Marion actually acts like a feudal woman--I mean, I'm all for women running around the forest in drag and whatnot, but I'd really like to see one where she runs a manor and intrigues politically and oversees charity and all that stuff.

...really, I think all of this probably explains a lot of my problems with epic fantasy--too much glossing over all the daily life stuff where I think the most interesting story potential is.